Signatures of north-eastern expansion and multiple refugia: Genomic phylogeography of the Pine Barrens Treefrog, Hyla andersonii (Anura: Hylidae)

Range fragmentation poses challenges for species persistence over time and may be caused by both historical and contemporary processes. We combined genomic data, phylogeographic model testing, and paleoclimate niche modeling to infer the evolutionary history of the Pine Barrens Treefrog (Hyla andersonii), a seepage bog specialist, in eastern North America to better understand the historical context of its fragmented distribution. We sampled H. andersonii populations across the three disjunct regions of the species’ range: Alabama/Florida (AF), the Carolinas (CL), and New Jersey (NJ). Phylogenetic relationships within H. andersonii were consistent between the nuclear species tree and mitochondrial analyses, indicating divergence between AF and CL/NJ (Atlantic clade) ~0.9 million years ago and divergence of the NJ clade ~0.15 mya. Several predictions of northeastern expansion along the Atlantic coast were supported by phylogeographic analyses. Model testing using genome-wide SNP data and ...